Easter...such a special holiday to me and my family. I don't decorate for it like I do for Christmas, but I love it almost as much...almost. :) Easter is such a humbling, yet joyful holiday. I love the music in church on Easter, the message that we hear, and the family time we have. I am so grateful to have been brought up in a Christian home. We have a wonderful, amazing God who sent his Son to die on the cross for my sins, your sins, everyone's sins. That humbles me. I don't deserve that, nor does anyone. But that is our gift...our very special gift from our God. It's because of Him that we will have eternal life.
We started the morning out with a little breakfast at church, then on to the 8:00 service (and yes, I do get to attend church with my entire family....and yes, we DO fit in one pew...even if it is a tight fit). It was a beautiful service with a most amazing message. This morning, my heart was being tugged in all directions...first Easter without dad. It was tough, but with every song, Crown Him With Many Crowns, Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, I Know That My Redeemer Lives, and so many more, I could hear my dad's sweet, sweet tenor voice. I cried...not because it was sad, but because I know he is singing in that heavenly choir right along with us...trying to sing his heart out all the while. Then the church choir sang In Christ Alone and it was beautiful...this also tugged at my heart strings because this is one of the songs that they sang at the funeral...and although it brought back a rush of emotions from that day, I found peace in the words of that song. After church, mom and I hurried home to start the ham, quiche, breakfast casserole and fruit. Everyone came over for lunch, including our extended family, the Williams. We feasted on some pretty yummy food! We ate, we had some yummy drinks, and then it was time for our traditional Easter Egg Hunt for the young ones...complete with 140 eggs for the 4 youngest to hunt. We had so much fun with them. We napped, we took a walk, and now we rest.
On our walk tonight, I was able to reflect a little on my life...I feel like I am a different person than what I was even 6 months ago. So many things have changed...my outlook on life and even the people in my life have changed. Not in a bad way, but in a very good way, I feel. I know I was in a pretty negative place for so long, but I finally feel better. I have surrounded myself with friends I know truly care, I've tried to look at life from a more positive aspect, to realize that no one is perfect, and certainly not me, so who am I to judge someone. And all of these changes I've made in my life have made for a stronger "me". And I love it. So, on this day when I take a look at all the sacrifices that were made on my behalf, a sinner, from someone who WAS perfect, I like to think that this more positive me with a more positive outlook on life will maybe touch someone else's life.
I hope everyone had a blessed Easter with loved ones! Happy Happy Easter!!!
A few pics from today...
